Search Results for: Refused

According to a report in the venerable entertainment industry trade rag Variety, Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, asked Apple for a cut of iPod revenue as part of the failed negotiations between the two companies over a contract extension for the right to sell NBC’s shows on iTunes. (Thanks, Valleywag.) If that’s true, wow. A source familiar with NBC Universal’s negotiations confirmed that the company asked for a slice of iPod revenue but only after Apple refused to budge on variable pricing. “Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made… Read more »

Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company’s music on Apple’s iTunes Music Store. That’s because Jobs wouldn’t ease his stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their music. Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world’s most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that Morris has… Read more »

The British music Web site Gigwise is reporting that Radiohead has sold 1.2 million digital copies of its latest album, “In Rainbows,” since sales began on Tuesday. If true (and that might be a big “if”; see below), the number would be a blow-out, suggesting the wisdom of the band’s decision to sell its wares directly to fans without the aid of a record label. The figure dwarfs first-week sales of Radiohead’s recent studio albums. “Hail to the Thief,” released in 2003, racked up 300,000 sales in its first week; “Amnesiac” managed 231,000 copies in 2001; and “Kid A” hit… Read more »

Elton John said Wednesday that he owns a photo of two naked girls taken by award-winning photographer Nan Goldin that was seized by police at a British gallery over concerns it amounted to child pornography. John confirmed ownership of “Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing” in a statement on his Web site. He said it is among 149 images comprising Goldin’s “Thanksgiving” installation. Northumbria police said the photo was taken from the BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, northeastern England. They confirmed Tuesday that an image had been taken from an exhibit “to assess whether or not an offense had been… Read more »

Rap musicians and top record label executives defended the hip-hop business Tuesday, telling lawmakers it is wrong to single out the genre for congressional reprobation. Lavell Crump, who goes by the name David Banner, told the house consumer protection subcommittee that picking on rap unfairly singles out the black community. “When it comes down to it, it’s just a song,” Crump said. “Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of California, but in his movies he killed half of Cambodia and he went to Mars and blew up Mars . . . but that’s OK because he’s a white man and he’s an… Read more »

Special administrators appointed to look into the handling of James Brown’s estate have told a judge that a former trustee may have misappropriated up to $7 million of the late soul singer’s money. The judge agreed that Brown’s heirs could pursue those claims and ordered the ex-trustee to pay $370,000 back to the estate, on top of $350,000 the man repaid last month. State Circuit Judge Jack Early gave David Cannon, who has resigned as co-executor of Brown’s will, 10 days to repay the additional $370,000 and 20 days to pay $30,000 for attorney fees and to produce other documents.… Read more »

Busta Rhymes was sued in New York State Supreme Court on Monday by a Bronx man who alleges he was roughed up by The Big Bang rapper and his posse last summer after spitting on Rhymes’ SUV. The plaintiff, Roberto LeBron, 20, claims he was repeatedly punched and kicked in the body and face by the 35-year-old Rhymes during the wee hours of Aug. 12 as the hip-hopster’s nine bodyguards stood by and watched. LeBron was treated at a nearby medical center for a concussion, split lip and injury to his wrist and later released. Rhymes, whose real name is… Read more »

At Thursday’s Congressional hearing about the new rates for online radio that would essentially destroy it, SoundExchange, which was scheduled to receive the new royalty payments on Monday morning (since the enforcement date falls on a Sunday), made a startling statement. The SoundExchange executive [Jon Simson, executive director] promised — in front of Congress — that SoundExchange will not enforce the new royalty rates. Webcasters will stay online, as new rates are hammered out. I just spoke with Pandora founder Tim Westergren, who expressed relief that Pandora wouldn’t have to shut down on Sunday in response to the new rates.… Read more »

For months, Shira Barlow’s cell phone was flooded with wrong-number calls and text messages, mostly between 2 and 4 a.m. on weekends. Told they had reached a college student, callers refused to believe it. “Baby girl, how are you?” one man purred in a foreign accent. “Why are you doing this?” a woman asked. “This is so rude.” And there were several seemingly random references to “Paris.” As in Paris Hilton. Barlow’s story began on Valentine’s Day during a night out with friends. She was carrying her phone in a back pocket when it fell into a toilet. When she… Read more »

Al Gore announced Friday a surprise Live Earth concert in Washington, foiling Senate Republicans who blocked Gore’s attempt to bring his global warming extravaganza to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. The former vice president said the all-day “Mother Earth” concert would be held on the National Mall at the National Museum of the American Indian – about two blocks from the Capitol – as part of Saturday’s concert series focused on climate change. The headliners are Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. “Global warming naysayers in the political world have not been able to have their way, because this will… Read more »